Thankfulness

It is time for Thursday Thankfulness. I started this tradition for myself a few years ago on my old blog, when things were really, well, things were not good. Life was kicking us pretty hard, and I had this notion that an attitude of gratitude might help me in some way. Only, I didn’t want it to be the “standard” gratitude thing. Of course everyone is thankful for their families and children, things like that. I wanted to find little things to be grateful for, the things that are so much a part of our ordinary existence that we don’t even think about them anymore. Like … toilet paper. You never think about toilet paper … until you run out. And then you are so grateful when you have it again, lol.

I did a thankfulness post every week for a year, and then I went to a monthly schedule, but I’ve grown lax in the last couple of years. So I want to take a moment to commit once again to regularly posting about something to be grateful for, something small, something that seems commonplace. It’s easy to be grateful for big things, and to feel a sting perhaps when there aren’t any big things. We started a Blessing Jar a couple years ago to make a note of those times when we felt a sense of blessing in our day-to-day lives, and this year we’re really encouraging the kids to write their own notes too – gratitude isn’t just for grown-ups anymore!

So, I look around my desk for things to be thankful for … there’s a lot, really. I have too many jars of homemade balms I wanted to experiment with, and too many (really I mean not enough, lol!) pens, But this moment, I see the sticky notes and feel thankful. I use them all the time. I make notes to myself to put in my notebook, whether it’s a Bible verse I want to remember, a note to my husband, a task I don’t want to forget. I use them daily as I leave notes when correcting my kids’ schoolbooks, and my daughter writes love notes back to me on them. I love that they come in so many colors now. They suit my current needs so well, and I am thankful for these little note powerhouses. I even put sticky notes on my index cards. (there’s another thing to be grateful for! I’m an index card carrying girl!) And I love that there is even a digital version of sticky notes on my computer. Sticky notes add a nice little level of convenience to my life, and I am thankful.